1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to protective guards, and, in particular, to protective guards for protecting catheter exit sites.
2. Description of the Related Art
Catheters are flexible tubes used for withdrawing fluids from or injecting fluids into a patient""s body. For example, catheters can be used to introduce or withdraw fluids from a body cavity, duct, or vein, or artery. They are used for a variety of purposes and for differing time periods. Some catheters, such as hemodialysis catheters, are inserted into a patient""s body through an incision site in or near the patient""s neck or suclavion area. To prevent infection, the exit site must remain as sterile as possible. The need to protect the exit site from infection makes it difficult for a patient to bathe or otherwise go about his or her daily routine. For example, during showering, water can invade and infect the catheter exit site.
Heretofore, a hemodialysis or other central venous catheter exit sites could be protected only by covering it with a protective bandage and taping it in place. The bandage must be removed and discarded every time a catheter is used. The bandage application and removal processes are time consuming and cumbersome for the patient and/or his or her caregiver. The bandages also are often less than fully effective at preventing infection because water often seeps through them or between them and the patient""s skin and enters the exit site. The protective bandage also limits the patient""s mobility because it restricts the muscles surrounding the exit site.
The need therefore has arisen to provide an easy-to-use, waterproof, protective guard for a catheter incision site in or near the neck. The need has also arisen to provide a protective guard that covers the catheter exit site to protect against infection, while at the same time, allowing the patient to, for example, bathe a large portion of his or her body. The need has also arisen to provide a protective guard that extends below the catheter exit site far enough such that liquids do not splash upwardly and reach the catheter exit site.
It would also be desirable to provide an improved method of covering a catheter exit site to protect it against infection while at the same time allowing for a patient to bathe and perform other functions.
The invention, which is defined by the claims set out at the end of this disclosure, is intended to solve at least some of the problems noted above. A protective guard is provided that is designed to cover a catheter exit site in or near a patient""s neck to protect against infection. At the same time, the protective guard described herein permits the patient to, for example, bathe a relatively large portion of the patient""s body. The protective guard extends below the catheter exit site far enough such that liquids do not splash upwardly and reach the catheter exit site.
In a preferred embodiment, the protective guard includes a drape that covers the incision and a collar that extends upwardly from a central opening in the drape. Both the collar and the drape are preferably waterproof and sufficiently flexible so as to not unnecessarily hinder the patient""s mobility. In order to remain in place during normal activity of the patient and to better protect the exit site, the drape may additionally cover one, and preferably both, shoulders of the patient as well as one and possibly both, upper arms. Straps and/or easily releasable fasteners, such as hook and loop fasteners, tape tabs, or the like, secure the various parts of the protective guard to one another to mold the guard to the patients body and hold the guard in position. Alternatively, the drape is thermally bonded to itself to form, for example, the arm covering. The fasteners preferably are located and configured so as to permit the patient to don and remove the guard preferably using just one hand.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of protecting a catheter exit site comprises 1) positioning a protective guard on the patient such that a waterproof collar of the guard snugly engages the patient""s neck and a waterproof drape of the guard overlies the exit site and a portion of the patient""s upper chest, shoulder, and neck located in the vicinity of the exit site, and 2) securing the protective guard in position.
Preferably, after the positioning step, an arm portion of the drape surrounds an upper portion of an arm of the patient and overlies the shoulder. In addition, a shoulder portion of the drape overlies the other shoulder of the patient while leaving an arm extending from the other shoulder uncovered.
Preferably, the positioning and securing steps are performed with one hand.
The protective guard described herein is of relatively simple construction, providing a lower cost of manufacture when compared to more complex designs. The protective guard is easy-to-use, extremely effective at protecting the exit site, flexible, and waterproof.